you are watching bbc news. i am jane hill at london bridge in central london. you're watching bbc news. i'mjane hill on london bridge where seven people have been killed and nearly 50 injured in a terrorist attack. a white van drove into pedestrians before three men jumped out and stabbed people in nearby streets. they run in and they were stabbing everyone and i was going to people run, run, run. distressing scenes as paramedics and the emergency services provided first aid. some of the injured are said to be in a critical condition in hospital. police placed several bars in lockdown — people were ordered to lay on the ground as officers checked there were no assailants present. police say that within eight minutes of receiving first reports of the attack they had shot dead

the three assailants. senior officers say they believe the incident is under control. a large cordon remains in place. there are many officers on scene. we still need to carry out a thorough search of the area to ensure everyone is accounted for. the mayor of london joins an emergency cobra committee meeting, chaired by the prime minister, as both the conservatives and labour suspend their campaigning in the general election. good morning from central london, where seven people have been

killed and many injured during the country's second terrorist attack in less than two weeks — and the third in under three months. officers were called to reports of a vehicle ploughing into pedestrians on london bridge, not farfrom here — at 10.08 pm. after the vehicle stopped, three men got out and started stabbing people on the bridge. if you don't know london, you will probably know the building behind me, which has become a familiar part of the london skyline. the base of the shard is close to london bridge railway station, a major hub in the capital, and a large area around here cordoned off as you would

expect. the commissioner of the met police telling us in the last half hour that this is an ongoing investigation, but let's just remind you of the key facts as we understand them here this sunday morning. officers were called to reports of a vehicle ploughing into pedestrians on london bridge, not farfrom here — at 10.08 pm. after the vehicle stopped, three men got out and started stabbing people on the bridge. the attackers then moved a short way down the road, within eight minutes — by 10.16pm — all three attackers were shot and killed by police. nearly 50 people have been taken to hospital —

and a number of others with minor injuries were treated at the scene, as tom symonds reports. you may find some of the images in his report distressing. it began in what is becoming a familiar and horrifying way. confusion and a massive police response. just after ten p.m., this white van had run down people walking along london bridge, leaving bodies in its path. it crashed close to southwark cathedral and from inside, eyewitnesses said three men emerged. that is terrorists. there was a bar full of people there, just having a good time. and they went running

straight into them and i think they were saying, this is for allah. people were screaming and getting stabbed. they were screaming, this is for allah and they ran up and stabbed this girl ten or15 times. she was asking for help and i couldn't do nothing. this is an area of bars and cafes. police tried to get control and spot potential attackers. armed officers were there within eight minutes, and then this. it was over. gunshots. it was over. three attackers were dead, one had canisters taped to his body, not a

suicide vest, the police, a hoax. in nearly hours, the country's senior counterterrorism officer made a statement. it has now been confirmed that seven members of the public have died, and in addition, three suspects are dead. my current information is at 48 people have been injured. and 48 people were indeed taking doors would offer treatment. london's paramedic and hospital emergency plans had been triggered. back on the bridge, they were treating those run down by the van, and also those set upon by the attackers as they lay in the road. a huge area of southwark has been cordoned off. heavily armed officers have been carrying out checks. they need to be sure there are no other

attackers, and that includes entering buildings like this one nearby. tonight, we heard what we believe to be controlled explosions from the area around london bridge station. the fire brigade are here as a back—up, and a massive police investigation is now starting. there be looking at the van and its movements. there will be identifying the attackers and anyone connected with them, and there will be a separate investigation into the police shootings. this morning, london is coming to terms with yet another example of indiscriminate violence on its streets. for the police, the pressure is on to make sure it doesn't happen again. that cobra meeting is happening. but

head to downing street. la, remind us head to downing street. la, remind us of what is going on there. this is a meeting of senior cabinet ministers, cheered by the prime minister. there will also be a number of senior security officials briefing the politicians about what has happened in the past 24 hours. in the broader context of security, this in two weeks after the manchester the attacks, when they raised the threat level in the uk to its highest level, could be some conversation about whether the threat level goes up. in the mantis and attack they deployed an operation which saw 1000 armed forces personnel deployed to the streets of london to help in the policing efforts here in the capital, so no doubt that conversation is being hand about that. it's probably worth noting that. it's probably worth noting that a decision about threat level 01’ that a decision about threat level or deployment of armed forces isn't

for politicians, is based on the advice of jtac, the joint terrorism analysis centre. it is those security experts to make that decision, the politicians in this case take it into account. all of this in the context of a general election that is happening in four days' time. this morning, we have heard all the major parties have cancelled their national campaigning for today. the tories say they will keep an eye on her circumstances develop over the rest of the day. the labour party say they will get back under way this evening. the lib dems and the snp also cancelled any campaigning today, but sunday would ordinarily be an incredibly busy day for all the political parties and their leaders, making big speeches. they're not going to do that today. they're not going to do that today. the one exception is ukip. they say they will continue the campaign. they saying, for those of us seeking to serve the people in this country,

it is our duty to drive the dialogue on how to confront this brand of terrorism. that is what ukip will be doing today and beyond. an interesting balancing act between respect to those who have been killed in the events of last night, and also the view that democracy must continue. and certainly, that is the view of the other political parties, or call the majority of them have today suspended their national campaigning. stay with us, because i know we're expecting to hear from the because i know we're expecting to hearfrom the prime minister once the meeting concludes. going to come right back to you. we willjust topped briefly about the incident itself overnight, the attacks. the commissioner of the metropolitan police, cressida dick, said that the police, cressida dick, said that the police believe all three attackers have been shot dead. although it is an ongoing investigation, she said the police believe is that all those

attackers have been killed by armed police officers. we reiterate that, because we have been showing some images this morning, we've had a lot of eyewitness photographs that have been sent into the bbc over the course of the night, and one of those that we received is, we believe, of one of the attackers. so that image is tying in with what cressida dick was telling journalists in the last hour, that she believes incidents in itself is over. that the three attackers who attacked people, pedestrians on london bridge and then moved a short distance away to the borough market area, that they are all dead. that is what the commissioner has been telling journalists this morning. lots of political reaction, we've been reflecting on that with our correspondent there, the general election due to go ahead on thursday. let's hear a little bit

first of all from the leader of the labour partyjeremy first of all from the leader of the labour party jeremy corbyn. absolutely shocked and horrified at what happened, looking at the pictures of people running frightened, the police running in the other direction to try and help save lives, then brilliant paramedic and ambulance and fire crews helping on the scene. this is a dreadful terrorist attack that has taken yet more lives in this country. labour has said it will suspend campaigning. was that a decision you reached easily? yes, we would be campaigning nationally today, but we will resume later on, because i think it's important to give a message, democracy must prevail. if we allow these attacks to disrupt oui’ we allow these attacks to disrupt our democratic process, then we all lose. it's unprecedented that we have had two such large terrorist attacks in the run—up to a general election. what impact do you think it will have? i can't recall another

election where there's been something like this. this has to be the worst. i hope it will not disrupt the process, because we have to have a democratic process, but i also hope we will reflect on the need to have sufficient police officers on our streets and sufficient intelligence to look at the terrorist threat, but in response, as in manchester, whole communities must come together. our strength is the strength of our community unity, that was shown in manchester street after the horrible event there, and i'm sure it will be exactly the same in london. of course, the polls been very encouraging for you in the last week, they've looked as if you are closing the gap. do you think this will be a positive or negative for you? i'm not commenting on that, but this evening and the rest of the week, we'll be putting out a very positive message about the future of this country. but i think at the moment we should mourn those who have died and thank all those people whose services are talked about, but

also ordinary people who just tried to help out. if you're watching in the uk and what to continue watching our coverage, we've moved now from bbc 0ne coverage, we've moved now from bbc one to bbc two. we welcome viewers joining us now on bbc two in the uk, and we're continuing to broadcast on the bbc news channel and two collea g u es the bbc news channel and two colleagues and viewers around the world on bbc world news. this is a bbc news special podcasting across the uk and around the world, continuing to reflect on the events in central london overnight. to bring you right up to date, seven people are now confirmed as having died in the terrorist attack here, just a short distance behind me at london bridge. an attack on london bridge, and a short distance away, in the borough market area, which been full of people out enjoying a

warm saturday evening here in the capital in london. we are waiting to hear from the capital in london. we are waiting to hearfrom the prime capital in london. we are waiting to hear from the prime minister. capital in london. we are waiting to hearfrom the prime minister. that lecter and has been placed outside ten downing st, which does suggest the prime minister will emerge to doctor journalists fairly shortly. she has been sharing the emergency cabinet meeting, the cobra meeting, senior ministers either inside downing street discussing the reaction and what now needs to be donein reaction and what now needs to be done in the wake of this, a third terrorist attack in the uk, in the space of about a month. there will be many questions for politicians, for the police, for security services. the third attack in barely a month, here at london bridge. less than two weeks ago, we saw the attack at the end of a concert at the manchester arena. 22 people killed in that attack and then just a little time before the maddest of attack, another one in central

london, an attack not dissimilar to the one we saw here last night. a soft target, were we saw a vehicle being driven along the street, along a bridge, mowing down pedestrians as it went. people from all over the world killed in that attack, and seven people here killed on saturday night on london bridge and borough market. we'll keep an eye on downing street, we are waiting to hear from the prime minister. with bringing you up—to—date with what the commissioner of the police here in london has been seen, the commissioner of the metropolitan police, cressida dick, spoke of the last hour or so. she herself relatively new in thatjob, she's only been inadvertent blood months. she said that while it is an ongoing investigation, she does believe that all three attackers have been shot and killed. let's get the thoughts of the bbc security correspondent

frank gardner, who is in our studios in central london. so much to discuss here, but we start from that point, that the attacks in a relatively short space of time is a truly grim tally now. yes, let's have a look at the actual stats here, which are very disturbing. this is the third terrorist attack to get through on the streets of the uk in 70 serious. in that same period, the police and m15 say they have stopped by the attacks, some of which we saw publicly, allegedly, some people who have been arrested. it's a very worrying statistic, and i think it's a reflection of the enormous numbers that they are up against. so 500 active plots currently being investigated by police and m15. they are doing this through a system of national counterterrorism units, with the police and m15 work side by side in

addition to that... part of that is 3000 subjects of interest. in addition to that, that is a wider group of about 20,000 sympathisers board ‘s numerous causes. these are the ones they know about. the worrying thing here is that we were not at critical, which means that while they got a terrorist attack was highly likely, they didn't know one was imminent. it can only be critical when they think that is ha rd critical when they think that is hard intelligence that an attack is imminent. immediately after the manchester attack, they thought there was a distinct possibility there was a distinct possibility there were more explosive devices around, so we came down of critical on to severe when that threat was seen to be finished. then up pop this other one that they weren't necessarily expecting. whitehall officials are not going to comment yet as to whether or not the three attackers that marshall dead were

subjects of interest. i'd be very surprised if there are not at least on the periphery of some kind of investigation, known to people that they were already monitoring. if they were already monitoring. if they were already monitoring. if they were people that were being monitored, there are questions to be asked. already the police and m15 will be under huge pressure. the public will rightly say, when does this end? how do we stop this? the a nswer this end? how do we stop this? the answer is better intelligence, more community relations and more tip—offs from the public. the government and police can't do this on the own, the new tip—offs from the public. communities have been incredibly helpful. that has to continue. reports of suspicious behaviour, extremist views, and billy to be acted upon effectively. should we be reading anything into this situation, that we are only a few days from a general election in the united kingdom? does the fact that it the united kingdom? does the fact thatitis the united kingdom? does the fact

that it is a campaigning period have any bearing on this?” that it is a campaigning period have any bearing on this? i don't think it does, to be honest. i think it's more likely to be a response to the call from so—called islamic state on their followers to attack people at home, using vans and knives. the dumbest twice. we are sadly in the holy month of ramadan, which should bea holy month of ramadan, which should be a particularly holy month of muslims, is a time of great revere nce muslims, is a time of great reverence and fasting, but u nfortu nately for reverence and fasting, but unfortunately for violent jihadists, they view this as a time to intensify the attacks. as we saw last year, with attacks in istanbul and iraq. so i'm afraid it's more likely to be a response to that. so—called islamic state followers have been celebrating throughout the night, but it hasn't yet been definitively proved it was inspired by them. i'd be very surprised if it wasn't. yes, and you saying that all

the reasons you've outlined there, including the timing of some of that as well. and the modus operandi. we find ourselves only human level. the fa ct find ourselves only human level. the fact that this is a soft target. that makes it all the more difficult for me human perspective. but is it fairto for me human perspective. but is it fair to say, much harderfor the security services to deal with that? it is, although i think it has been said before and it has to be said again, the response of the armed police and emergency services was absolutely incredible. it was phenomenal. eight minutes from the starting for them to have gone in, neutralise this, killed the attackers storm did with fatal shots. they stop this. it could have gone on forfar longer, shots. they stop this. it could have gone on for far longer, with the much higher body count. thisjust shows that all the training that has gone into place in the last nine

yea rs, gone into place in the last nine years, since the mumbai attacks, when britain first woke up to the real threat of the marauding terrorist attack in london, all that training and practice, and the deployment of armed response vehicles, that are constantly driving around london, their aim is never to be more than eight minutes from the scene of an attack like this. in the backs of those vehicles, there are blocked armouries that have very powerful and accurate weapons that are able to bring down effect of firepower very quickly. so that has paid off. the paramedics did an incredible job, as did some members of the public. but that is no consolation to those caught up in this, the victims and the families. we are still at severe, we might not go to critical, meaning that another terrorist attack is highly likely. the numbers are big and they're

going to have to be even more vigilant stop with attacks like this. thanks very much for now. we'll have more from you over the course of midday. the bbc security correspondent frank gardner there. we're still waiting to hear from the prime minister, and will be back to downing street as soon as theresa may emerges. we thought she have been out a few minutes ago to address journalists, been out a few minutes ago to addressjournalists, but been out a few minutes ago to address journalists, but the cobbler meeting still clearly going on, because the prime minister will talk at the lectern in their in downing street. senior cabinet ministers, the mayor of london, and all that cheered by the prime minister. we will hear from theresa may shortly. meanwhile, let's reflect on those who have been so badly injured. helena lee is at st thomas's hospital for us. remind us of how many people were

injured overnight and what the hospital authorities are saying to you there. in terms of location, we are about a mile away from where you are, where those attacks took place last night. we are on the south end of westminster bridge, outside saint thomas' hospital. the latest from london ambulances that 40 people we re london ambulances that 40 people were taken to hospital following the attacks. some of them are being treated there and here last night ts, treated there and here last night ‘s, when the ongoing incident happens, there was locked down at this hospital. staff, patients and relatives were kept inside because of what was going on outside and keep them safe. we have had an update on the last few moments from the hospital here, who have told us that they had nine patients admitted

there last night, six men and five women. they say that earlier on, five of those nine work discharged and four remain here in hospital, but it would clearly tell us what condition therein. we know overall, of the 40 patients who are in hospital, so those are critical, others have more minor injuries. we also know that at the royal london hospital, they are treating 12 patients at that hospital, and there are other hospitals, five in total across central london, that are continuing to treat patients. but only are they going to have the medical support, if they need operations, if they'd been badly injured, they will also have specially trained officers, when they want to talk about what happens andi they want to talk about what happens and i guess what happened and what they saw and what they went through last night. thank you very much for

that update. i know you keep it up—to—date. let's talk a little bit more about the policing operation. 0ur more about the policing operation. our home affairs correspondentjoins me from scotland yard. we heard from the commissioner of the met in the last hour or so, daniel, the commissioner of the met in the last hour orso, daniel, bring the commissioner of the met in the last hour or so, daniel, bring us up—to—date with the investigation as wild as you understand. obviously, the crucial thing for the police at the crucial thing for the police at the moment is to make sure they are sure of the identity of the three suspects that they shot dead last night, which seems to have brought the attack to the end. they need to know who these three men are and was sure about that, they can start the investigation to build the network from those three, check the contacts and associates in trying to work out if anybody else was involved in the planning of this attack. clearly, often when you're dealing with a lone attacker, the question is, have

they been assisted? but since we have three suspects, it is possible that as the group themselves. the men left, whether they're from london. there appear to be read in arcing going on today. we will want to know what nationality they are. we all want to know if they were former subjects of interest, if the people of winter before or people who have, the out of the blue. that's a very important part of the process now. but before they get to that, this is a massive crane crime scene they're dealing with. a massive and has driven down london bridge, the incident has continued from boro high street, where these men have been chased down the street by people. they've gone into by the market, where people have been hurt and killed as well. all of that will have to be cordoned off, and a very

detailed forensic examination of the actual physical scene and an examination of the hundreds of cctv cameras that there will be on the route. in these investigations, detectives want to know literally everything that happens, as far as they can, in terms of video evidence and the forensics. it will be learning more in terms of the police response, that very fast police response, that very fast police response, from the first call to the suspects being shot dead at eight minutes. who was involved in the police response, we have these reports of a military style helicopter landing on london bridge, and whether that was the first deployment of military officers and one of these quick reactions, that's something that has been seen for over the years, since the worries about marauding firearms attacks. he had the police force there that is still dealing with the enormous operation at game out of the westminster attack. just a few yards

from here. that has taken up massive resources . from here. that has taken up massive resources. they are dealing with suspects from other attacks, who are awaiting trial. then suddenly this new operation, and lots of resources we re new operation, and lots of resources were sucked up to two police officers up to manchester. very stretched resources and a massive operation to carry it. i think of the country crawling over those streets in south—east london, trying to work out what happened, boarding through cctv. 0f to work out what happened, boarding through cctv. of course, although armed officers were being deployed in large numbers already, that number will be increased a little further for the short term, so that'll be dreaming again on the resources of armed officers. daniel, stay with us. i understand the cobra

meeting may already have finished. so will probably hear from the prime minister soon. that meeting has broken up, the emergency meeting of senior cabinet ministers chaired by the prime minister. while we wait to hear from theresa may, the prime minister. while we wait to hearfrom theresa may, we're the prime minister. while we wait to hear from theresa may, we're talking to her home affairs correspondent who is at scotland yard. you were talking about resources. 0ne who is at scotland yard. you were talking about resources. one of the many difficulties with this, in terms of trying to make the public feel safe, trying to reassure people who live and work in this city, in cities up and down the united kingdom, was difficult here again, as we keep reflecting, is that this was an attack on a soft target, and it is only intelligence that can stop those attacks. we can't live in a secure state will people cannot go out and go for a drink on a saturday night. a soft target is so difficult, impossible to police. for the first time, we have a

confidence issue. the 7th ofjuly attacks in 2005 and the failed attacks in 2005 and the failed attack on the 21st ofjuly, after that, everything went quiet and slowly confidence built up. here we have the attack on westminster bridge in march, then came the attack in manchester on the 22nd of may, and people thinking, that is the really bad one, sophisticated bit of bomb—making, maybe that is the bad one we have been kind of worrying might be coming. then, suddenly, the 3rd ofjune, last night, another one. the public are going to start asking, are the police really managing to handle this? we have not seen that issue yet. it will be a growing issue and thatis yet. it will be a growing issue and that is why police officers are emphasising and re—emphasising this morning how quickly they responded. eight minutes is an extraordinary

response time, from the start of the attack to the subjects the end up with, in this case, being shot. the public, for the time being, are going to have to understand that the attacks on soft targets, which do not involve sophisticated planning, the best the police can do is react quickly and reduce casualties and fidelity ‘s. it will not be possible to eliminate casualties and fatalities when people are prepared to get into vehicles and driving to the public. the best you can do is keep the numbers down. daniel, thank you, for now. let us pick up on some of what daniel was saying. the security analyst, will geddes, is with me at london bridge. you could not hear what daniel was saying, but we we re not hear what daniel was saying, but we were reflecting on the fact that with a soft targets such as what we

saw in central london last night, it is about the response, there is no way we can live in a locked down state where soft targets like bars and state where soft targets like bars a nd restau ra nts state where soft targets like bars and restaurants cannot be protected all the time. absolutely. you hit the nail on the head. a lot of things we do in this country a lot of other countries do not do, like operation griffin, working with local businesses to be alert and aware and have certain measures. these are limited, evidently, because they have to be funded by the private business, to try to be prepared for these situations. as you rightly say, if you have a group of individuals who unfortunately have not been under direct watch by the security services, they will slip through the net and inevitably we will have critics saying that the security services have failed us, allowed individuals to get through, but the sheer mass, the insurmountable task the services have in terms of the number of

suspects, well in excess of 3000, thatis suspects, well in excess of 3000, that is a conservative estimate... sorry to cut you off. the prime minister isjust sorry to cut you off. the prime minister is just speaking in sorry to cut you off. the prime minister isjust speaking in downing street. i have just chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee and i want to update you with the latest information about the attack. shortly before ten past ten yesterday evening, the metropolitan police received reports a white van had struck pedestrians on london bridge. it continued to drive from london bridge the borough market we re london bridge the borough market were three terrorists left the van and attacked innocent and unarmed civilians with blades and knives. all three were wearing what appeared to be explosive vests but the police have established this clothing was fa ke have established this clothing was fake and it was worn only to spread panic and fear. as often in such

serious situations, the police responded with great courage and great speed. armed officers from the metropolitan police and the city of london police arrived at borough market within moments and shot and killed the three suspects. the terrorists were confronted and shot by armed officers within eight minutes of the police receiving the first emergency call. seven people have died as a result of the attack, in addition to the three suspects shot dead by the police. 48 people are being treated in several hospitals across london. many have life—threatening conditions. 0n behalf of the people of london and on behalf of the whole country, i wa nt to on behalf of the whole country, i want to thank and paid tribute to the professionalism and bravery of the professionalism and bravery of the police and the emergency services. and the courage of members of the public who defended

themselves and others from the attackers. and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and with their friends, families and loved ones. this is, as we all know, the third terrorist attack britain has experienced in the last three months. in march, a similar attack took place just around the corner on westminster bridge. two weeks ago, the manchester arena was attacked by a suicide bomber, and now london has been struck once more. at the same time, the security and intelligence agencies and police have disrupted five credible plots since the westminster attack in march. in terms of the planning and execution, the recent attacks are not connected. but we believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face, as terrorism breeds

terrorism and perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after yea rs of basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training, and not even as lone attackers radicalised online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack. we cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are. things need to change and they need to change in four important ways. first, while the recent attacks are not connected by common networks, they are connected in one important sense. they are bound together by the single evil ideology of islamist extremism that preaches hatred, so is division and promotes sectarianism. it is an ideology that claims our western values of freedom, democracy and human rights

are incompatible with the religion of islam. it is an ideology that is a perversion of islam and a perversion of the truth. defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time, but it cannot be defeated through military intervention alone. it will not be defeated through the maintenance of a permanent defensive counterterrorism operation, however skilful its leaders and practitioners. it will only be defeated when we turn people's minds away from this violence and make them understand that our values, plu resisted british values, are superior to anything offered by the preachers and supporters of hate we cannot allow this ideology the safe spaceit cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed. yet that is precisely what the internet and the big companies that provide internet—based services provide. we

need to work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning. and we need to do everything we can at home to reduce the risks of extremism online. third, while we need to deprive the extremists of the safe spaces online, we must not forget about the safe spaces that continue to exist in the real world. yes, that means taking military action to destroy isis in iraq and syria, but it also means taking action here at home. while we have made significant progress in recent years, there is, to be frank, far too much tolerance of extremism in our country. we need to become far more robust in identifying it and stamping it out across the public sector and across society. that will require some

difficult and often embarrassing conversations, but the whole of our country needs to come together to ta ke country needs to come together to take on this extremism and we need to live our lives not in a series of separated segregated communities but as one truly united kingdom. fourth, we have a robust counterterrorism strategy that has proved successful over many yea rs, strategy that has proved successful over many years, but as the nature of the threat we face becomes more complex, more fragmented, more hidden, especially online, the strategy needs to keep up. in light of what we are learning about the changing threat, we need to review britain's counterterrorism strategy to make sure the police and security services have all the powers they need. and if we need to increase the length of custodial sentences for terrorism related offences, even a p pa re ntly terrorism related offences, even apparently less serious offences, thatis apparently less serious offences, that is what we will do. since the

emergence of the threat from islamist inspired terrorism our country has made significant progress in disrupting plots and protecting the public. but it is time to say, enough is enough. everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would, our society should continue to function in accordance with our values, but when it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change. as a mark of respect, the two political parties have suspended our national campaigns for today. but violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process, so those campaigns will resume in full tomorrow. and the general election will go ahead as planned on thursday. as a country, our response must be, as it has always been, when confronted by violence, we must come together, we must pull together and

united we will take on and defeat our enemies. the prime minister saying things cannot continue as they are, we cannot continue as they are, we cannot allow this ideology to prevail. just in terms of the political elements of what she was saying, stressing quite forcefully the election will go ahead this thursday, a key message, the british general election on thursday, the 8th ofjune, and that will go ahead. we heard earlier in the day the conservatives and labour have suspended the national campaigning today, that does not necessarily apply to all parties, the election absolutely going ahead, says the prime minister. 0ur political correspondent is following all of this. we were not able to hear

everything theresa may said so you may well have picked up on some of the statement i was unable to hear. explain some of the key points because this statement is coming immediately after the end of the cobra meeting. that is right. it was a robust statement from the prime minister, as you would expect, where she said things need to change, enough is enough, everybody must go ahead with their daily lives, but there are certain changes she feels need to be implemented. four different areas that need to be looked at, she talked about. the fa ct looked at, she talked about. the fact that the ideology of islamic extremism must finally be changed, the perversion of islam must be defeated and it is only by defeating... when people's minds are to this awful ideology. she also

talked about the internet. this is a keyissue talked about the internet. this is a key issue we know the prime minister was looking at, the g7 meeting of leaders last week, she said the internet and internet companies needed to take more responsible estate in the dealings with some of these activities online —— more responsibility. she said difficult and embarrassing conversations would need to be had at home within some of the communities where she said they were involved. she said reviewing counterterrorism strategy, that may mean custodial sentences, for example, for some terror related offences, even those deemed to be less serious, they may need to be looked at and custodial sentences may need to be increased. as you mentioned, she talked about everyday lives needing to go on, the fact the two main political parties, the conservatives and labour, they have

suspended national campaigning for today, but she said that it would go ahead as of tomorrow because our democratic process, the election, could not be moved and that chrissy, essentially, would not be cowed. some robust comments from the prime minister. —— and that democracy, essentially, would not be cowed. we did not hear anything about the threat level. we expected... she did not mention anything about that in her statement. the cobra meeting was of course a meeting between the senior cabinet ministers as well senior cabinet ministers as well senior security officials, she came out and made a statement after the meeting. thank you very much, ellie price, in downing street. much more from her to come. let us pick up on some of what we heard in a

statement. we were talking to will geddes, security expert and an list, just before that began. i know you we re just before that began. i know you were not able to hear everything theresa may said but it was fair to say there was very strong language and talking about, for example, difficult and perhaps embarrassing conversations have to be had. a much stronger tone from the prime minister about ideology and possibly talking about increased custodial sentences as well. i am interested what you think of her taking a very strong tone here? this strong line? like you, i only heard a little bit of what she was saying but a couple of what she was saying but a couple of take—homes from that, the enough is enough, i think that is a very key, probably the strongest position i have heard a politician take in terms of saying they are going to ta ke terms of saying they are going to take definitive action. and about time, ifi take definitive action. and about time, if i may say so myself. in addition to that, the issue of potentially tearing up prevent as a

strategy element. it is not working. ido strategy element. it is not working. i do not think it is working effectively. it needs a fresh set of eyes to look at it because as you rightly said, the only way you are able to prevent these things in the early life cycle is through addressing the radicalisation. hasn't prevent been only a small pa rt hasn't prevent been only a small part of the work going on? haven't people been saying for a long time that prevent is not doing what it is meant to be doing? what is going wrong with the national conversation? the problem is fundamentally the communities that that prevent strategy is trying to reach into, they do not trust it in terms of the fact that they are calling the authorities or reporting a member of the family or community, a member of the family or community, a friend, that they feel requires assistance, they feel it will be a victimisation process. whether it is correct or incorrect, that is the

perception. there has to be a re—education process, is a port structure in place, that takes the reports and processes that anonymously, and that is key, like prime stuffers, people will feel confident that they are able to report the information without being targeted by the security services —— like crimestoppers. aren't people told it is anonymous but you are saying there simply is not the confidence, they do not believe that, for whatever reason? that is the perception. alternately, people feel massively concerned that if they are calling in, they will be exposed by doing so. we cannot resolve this issue, looking at the life pattern or life cycle of the radicalisation, it is from, where are they being recruited from in the first instance? what is the mindset of the village all susceptible? how is the recruitment process taking

place? how has it involved from the embryonic stage right through to something like last night? —— what is the mindset of the individual susceptible? it has to be tackled at variousjunction points. before the prime minister was talking, you said the figure of more than 3000 people of interest. now what we hear over and over is it takes 30 people to monitor one person individually round—the—clock. that leads to the question of resources. it is not possible, is it, to monitor 3000 people? is that why people slip through the net? people watching this morning will be thinking, is this morning will be thinking, is this someone on the radar, tentatively known, but they slipped through the net? is it about manpower, woman power?m through the net? is it about manpower, woman power? it is a variety of things. counterterrorism isa variety of things. counterterrorism is a tapestry. so many different factors need to be brought to bed

together to provide a consolidated solution. if we look at the issue of manpower, finance, no country in the world, even the us, they have unlimited budgets to address counterterrorism and security issues, they cannot assure the populace of 100% safety, you cannot simply get it, does not matter how much money you throw at it. it is about intelligence solutions of trying to address and identified the threat at the earliest stages. putting in psychological, physical and tactical barriers to prevent them being able to exact particular attacks. and like you said, borough market here, people are just going about the evening, having a social time, not anticipating a threat, however, we do need to have some measures of vigilance by the general public. if anything, just protect each other. that is a small part of the bigger solution we need. each other. that is a small part of the bigger solution we needlj

each other. that is a small part of the bigger solution we need. i hear that, but people watching will say, ifiam that, but people watching will say, if i am crossing a bridge to get from one side of the river thames to another, which is simply what some people were doing last night, if i am walking, minding my own business, getting from p two b, —— a to b, there is nothing you can do, we all think we would jump out of the way quickly enough, it is just not possible. seven poor people have lost their lives because of that.|j lost their lives because of that.” agree entirely. there are physical barriers one could install in certain areas. after 9/11, i was in new york, around manhattan, many different organisations i was working with were installing concrete plant pots to provide a barrier against vehicles mounting the pavement, charging into a building. there are physical restru ctu res building. there are physical restructu res and building. there are physical restructures and elements that might need to be considered that will

change the aesthetic to a certain degree. we saw it with nice, the berlin christmas market. vehicles had no restriction ploughing into a group of people. looking at mechanicalfailure of group of people. looking at mechanical failure of vehicles, in florida, a number of instances reported every year from the elderly community who lose control of vehicles and plough into people on the street or in markets. it is not just protection against terrorism. it is key we do not make it purely about terrorism. we need to make sure people are safe. that is one small part. there are lots of different elements that need to be reconsidered right now and implemented to make things hopefully a bit safer. very interesting to hear your thoughts. thank you for being with us. you have been with us a lot this morning. will geddes, thank you. let us return to scotland yard, our home affairs

correspondent, daniel sandford, is there. bring us up to date with your ta ke there. bring us up to date with your take on the investigation and particularly given we have had strong language from the prime minister. daniel. that statement from the prime minister is absolutely a key moment, taking me back to 2005 when tony blair after the attacks on the london underground said, the rules of the game are changing for stop that led toa game are changing for stop that led to a lot of changes in the counterterrorism strategy. —— the rules of the game are changing. it led to a controversial new bits of legislation which are ultimately defeated, for example, the 90 day detention of terrorism suspects while they were being investigated. it isa while they were being investigated. it is a very significant moment, the echoing of the language when theresa may said, things need to change. in that statement, she talked about things which the government have been muttering about for a while but they have not really moved aggressively forward on, in

particular, this issue about the safe s pa ce particular, this issue about the safe space on the internet for extremists to breed. the government has been trying to put pressure on internet companies, on messaging companies, using encrypted messaging techniques, trying to persuade them they need to help the authorities more. theresa may has identified this as a moment when she can say, enough, we are not having this discussion anymore, you are going to have to do something different and they will work with other international countries to do that. it will be highly controversial. very significant move, if she goes through with that plan, because there are millions of people around there are millions of people around the world who do not want governments interfering in the encrypted messaging spaces. she talked about no safe space to breed in the physical world, the real world, in countries. we have tended to step back in the recent years from places like afghanistan, we did not intervene very strongly in

syria. we have not done very much in libya after the fall of gaddafi. does that mean the british government is now going to step forward again and start trying to intervene in those spaces, to commit british troops on the ground? that would also be a massively controversial thing to do in the light ofjeremy controversial thing to do in the light of jeremy corbyn's controversial thing to do in the light ofjeremy corbyn's opposition to that. it is a very significant moment. daniel, many thanks for now. let us just show you some images coming in from the bbc news helicopter. this is to the east of the capital, east london, barking. police raids going on at the moment. as soon as we get more information, we will bring it to you. this is very much part of the ongoing police investigation, three attackers shot dead, seven people losing their lives in a terrorist attack overnight in london. you are

watching bbc news. continuing coverage of the aftermath of the terrorist attack in the london bridge area in central london on saturday night. seven people killed, 48 people injured, some of them seriously. we have been talking all morning to eyewitnesses, people caught up in the events. let us hear from one man who has been a tour guide for 17 years in the capital, showing overseas visitors around the capital, he was carrying out a tour last night, the london by night talk. he explained what he saw.” was on my sightseeing bus last night. and we were coming onto london bridge. quite slowly. i noticed a person lying on the pavement. the word two black cabs, two taxis. —— there were. 0ur driver

and myself thought the person had either been run over or had an accident. so we carried on slowly across the bridge, like we normally do. then we saw another person lying on the other side of the road, on the right side of the bus, so we became a little bit concerned because we were not quite sure what was going on. then we saw another person. by the time we got to the third person, istarted person. by the time we got to the third person, i started to think it might have been a gang—related incident. we managed to move a bit further forward and then the boss came toa further forward and then the boss came to a stop because the traffic had been stopped by that time. —— the bus. i think i saw up to about six people lying on the pavement and in the street. i saw one person having cpr administered. did not look very good. i then attempted to

call 999. before i could get through to anyone, the police started to arrive. i would think that we probably arrived within minutes of the incident because there were no police there, whilst there were people lying all over the place, the police had not yet arrived. we assumed it must have just happened. we saw people running up towards the people lying down and i heard one girl screaming on the pavement, he is not breathing! after a few minutes, someone came up to the bus door in uniform, i don't know it was a police officer or not, i don't remember, but they told us to run. i had to then go upstairs and speak to

our guests, over 70 of them, from all over the world. i told them we had to evacuate the bus. they did panic because the guy banging on the door kept on shouting, move, move, run, run. i was trying to keep them calm. but they just run, run. i was trying to keep them calm. but theyjust ran. we were told to go to the far end of the bridge where the monument is and we we re bridge where the monument is and we were told to wait there. but most of the people on the bus disappeared. at one stage, when i was standing, a police officer walked past, he had is that the dog, we were concerned there might be explosives or something to that effect around. anyway, eventually, we left our bus on the bridge and i would imagine it is still there as we speak. you're watching bbc news.

i'mjane hill on london bridge, where seven people have been killed and nearly 50 injured in a terrorist attack. a white van drove into pedestrians before three menjumped out and stabbed people in nearby streets. they were running in all the pubs, all the bars. i can't remember all of them. they run in and they were stabbing everyone, and i was going to people, run, run, run. in the last few minutes, the prime minister emerged from chairing an emergency cobra committee meeting, and said that the time has come for things to change. there is, to be frank, far too much tolerance of extremism in our country. so we need to become far more robust in